I well remember the first time I encountered a street-side popcorn vendor in China. It was way back in September of1984, during my first year as an English teacher in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. I had travelled by train north from Zhengzhou to the small town of Xinxiang to visit a friend who was teaching there, and to help her celebrate her first birthday in China.
We were strolling down the street outside the gate of her university, when all of a sudden there was a huge explosion on the sidewalk just ahead of us. We hit the ground. When the smoke cleared and we realized that we hand't been hit by a roadside bomb, we saw the popcorn man with his big toothy grin offering popcorn to the two stupid foreign women cowering against the wall.
How could we resist?
Here's a video clip of how it's done.
Source: Matador Network
Where were you the first time you encountered a Chinese pocorn man?
I honestly don’t remember my first encounter — but I do remember being surprised it was sweet and not salty.